Eco Comics forced to censor Cerne Giant

Award-winning publisher Eco Comics has today agreed to reach a compromise on the controversy surrounding the nudity of the Cerne Giant who stars in its new series, Englishman.

Many digital outlets have outright refused to carry the paperless publisher’s latest title due to the famously erect English landmark who appears in the comic book as an actual character.

The publisher said: “We are releasing a variant edition of Englishman #1 in which the Cerne Giant’s… rather renowned region… will be fully concealed.

“It seems a sad indictment of the times when a legendary landmark like the Cerne Giant – which any man, woman or child can visit any day of the week – must be covered up in a comic book. So much for freedom of art and expression.

“But, through pressure, our hand has been forced. Outlets, particularly in the US, refuse any form of nudity in comic books. It seems that powerful conservative groups scare them far more than any super-villain.”

The publisher has offered no further comment on how the notorious chalk figure of Dorset, who will play a pivotal role in the Englishman series, will appear in future issues. To date, only one digital outlet has released the uncensored version of Englishman #1.

The amended artwork showing the censored Cerne Giant is available to view on the publisher’s blog: blog.mohawkmedia.co.uk

The first issue of Englishman, downloadable for free, has been no stranger to controversy as it attempts to chart the course of the country in a not-too-distant future in which extremism, surveillance, over-population, pollution, house-building and removal of wilderness and greenbelt have continued unabated.

ABOUT THE CERNE GIANT:
The Cerne Giant is also known as the Rude Man or the Cerne Abbas Giant. The giant chalk figure (180 feet from head to foot) is a famous English landmark located at Cerne Abbas in Dorset. Since Victorian times the naked character, situated on Giant Hill, has often been considered an aid to fertility. Some believe him to be Hercules or Oliver Cromwell, but his origin, identity, and true meaning remain shrouded in mystery. The Cerne Giant is the country’s largest chalk hill figure.